MacBooks go Santa Rosa, MacBookPro offers 2.6ghz custom order. All 4GB maximum. 4GB is the new 2GB.
Duplicate thread here, I know, just that OMFG it's early in the morning in USA and AI and tuaw hasn't picked it up.

4GB in macbooks ... sweet. I for one am glad they didn't change the macbook design, though I would have liked to have seen LED displays and a Superdrive in the base model. I can't imagine Apple are saving a ton of money by not including a Superdrive - DVD writers cost nothing these days. Will be interesting to see how the new 800Mhz FSB architecture and X3100 performs.

I'll be buying a BlackBook this weekend for sure.

Thanks, Apple. (Now sort out the IMac freezing issues and release the new Mac pro and I'll be very satisfied)

I can't imagine Apple are saving a ton of money by not including a Superdrive - DVD writers cost nothing these days.

I suspect that Apple places huge component orders lives off of the stockpile for a while. That's probably why the displays and optical drives don't get changed all that often. They probably saved a bunch of money in volume when they placed the order in '05 or '06.

In unusual move early Thursday morning, Apple quietly rolled out updates to its 13-inch MacBook notebook line and also began offering customers an option to custom configure new MacBook Pro orders with a 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo chip.

The updates came without a formal announcement and instead began appearing on the company's online store in the early morning hours.

The new 13-inch MacBooks now share the same Santa Rosa-based architecture as their professional cousins, the MacBook Pros, including an 800MHz frontside bus. They also sport Intel's GMA X3100 integrated graphics video chip.

At the same time, Apple also began offering customers the ability to upgrade its 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro notebooks with a 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo chip (+$250) and 250GB Serial ATA Drive (+ $150/$225)

Pricing & Availability

The new MacBook models are now shipping and will be available through the Apple Store, Apples retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

It's a real shame that the base model still has only a combo drive and an 80 GB HDD. Why don't they use a slower and cheaper 1.8 GHz Core 2 and use the money saved to increase the HDD and Optical drive without sacrificing their precious margins?

Australian Apple store is still showing the old MacBooks for sale even though the new ones are described in the main Apple Australia website. Guess if they keep quiet about the upgrade then it won't alert the suckers who will buy the outdated models clogging the retail channels...

What's the sales tax situation in Canada? Is there any? Is it included in the $1249 price?

Tax is added at the till... same as the USA. Apple is screwing Canadians as they think they can get more money and we won't complain. I can understand a brick-and-mortar retailer having inventory purchased at old costs but we all know Apple ships online orders to Canada from the same place as the US orders ship so this is just Apple being greedy.

Even in iPod, Apple charges more in Canadian dollars than US dollars and the Canadian dollar is worth more. The only thing they have fixed is iTunes pricing...

It's a real shame that the base model still has only a combo drive and an 80 GB HDD. Why don't they use a slower and cheaper 1.8 GHz Core 2 and use the money saved to increase the HDD and Optical drive without sacrificing their precious margins?

I'm sure that most people would choose

1.8 GHz
Double-layer DVD burner
120 GB HDD

at $1099

over

2.0 GHz
Combo drive
80 GB HDD

at $1099.

Doing this would kill the upgrade path because most customers would not opt for the $1299 model if the $1099 model had the Superdrive and larger hard drive.

Yeah, but most people chose the mid-range model at $1299 for this reason and Apple makes an extra $200. Apple uses the DVD burner as a selling point for the up-sale. It's unfortunate but true. Same for the Mac mini.

Tax is added at the till... same as the USA. Apple is screwing Canadians as they think they can get more money and we won't complain. I can understand a brick-and-mortar retailer having inventory purchased at old costs but we all know Apple ships online orders to Canada from the same place as the US orders ship so this is just Apple being greedy.

Even in iPod, Apple charges more in Canadian dollars than US dollars and the Canadian dollar is worth more. The only thing they have fixed is iTunes pricing...

They fixed the Leopard pricing, too.

B&M retailers are offered price-protection on goods that they recently purchased, in the case of new products being released and deprecating the ones they have in stock. I don't see why Apple can't sort this out.

Canadian consumers are getting savvy to the price differentials now, as there are constant news reports about it. I'm sure the Apple stores just across the border will be seeing an increase insales.

"Many people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so." - Bertrand Russell

Perhaps, but the real issue for Apple is would doing what you suggest take sales from the other two more expensive Macbook models? Apple obviously would prefer to sell the more expensive models because the profit is higher.

In my view, you are right that your offering probably costs about the same and is more appealing. However, if Apple offered that, ask yourself: is the more expensive models really that attractive? If Apple configured the Mac Books as you suggest, I personally would opt for the cheaper model over the more expensive Macbooks because the only reason I would want the more expensive ones as offered now is because of the super drive.

I will be buying a Mac Book soon. It will be the middle model. The only reason will be because of the super drive. The speed between the three models is only minor, and the slowest one is way faster then the iBook I will be replacing. In my case, your suggestion would cost Apple about sixty dollars in profit because if Apple took your suggestion I would buy the low end model instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. H

It's a real shame that the base model still has only a combo drive and an 80 GB HDD. Why don't they use a slower and cheaper 1.8 GHz Core 2 and use the money saved to increase the HDD and Optical drive without sacrificing their precious margins?

There is nothing wrong with plastic notebooks if made properly. The clam shell iBooks were probably some of the sturdiest notebooks ever made. However, in the case of the Macbook, I might agree with you. The iBook and the Mac Book are made from the same plastic. The casing from the outside seems identical.

Both the G3 and G4 iBooks suffered from a problem where the graphic chip would often separate from the logic board leaving you with a dead computer. This was because the plastic bottom of the iBook case was not sturdy enough to prevent the logic board from flexing when you put pressure on the casing. The flexing caused the solider on the graphic chip to break free from the logic board. If you used the notebook often on your lap, you were likely to suffer this problem. If you used it mostly on a desk, you probably were less likely to suffer the problem.

It is possible that the integrated chip set of Macbook solves this problem (I am not an engineer), but I would want to know first. Apple had to replace my iBook four times. On the fifth time it was out of warranty. Do a Google search, there are plenty of people who suffered through that problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by palegolas

Yee, this is great!
But... when is a compact and sturdy macbook coming?
I refuse to buy a plastic notebook with a glass screen... feel like it's gonna break.

There is nothing wrong with plastic notebooks if made properly. The clam shell iBooks were probably some of the sturdiest notebooks ever made. However, in the case of the Macbook, I might agree with you. The iBook and the Mac Book are made from the same plastic. The casing from the outside seems identical.

Both the G3 and G4 iBooks suffered from a problem where the graphic chip would often separate from the logic board leaving you with a dead computer. This was because the plastic bottom of the iBook case was not sturdy enough to prevent the logic board from flexing when you put pressure on the casing. The flexing caused the solider on the graphic chip to break free from the logic board. If you used the notebook often on your lap, you were likely to suffer this problem. If you used it mostly on a desk, you probably were less likely to suffer the problem.

It is possible that the integrated chip set of Macbook solves this problem (I am not an engineer), but I would want to know first. Apple had to replace my iBook four times. On the fifth time it was out of warranty. Do a Google search, there are plenty of people who suffered through that problem.

The current MacBooks are pretty sturdy. Sure, I've seen what the schoolkids do to it, but a Black MacBook in a young adult or adult's regular work/ everyday use, it holds up quite well.

I always feel the MBP is somewhat flimsy when I feel it. But that's because I yearn for the good ol' days of the TiBook.

There really is no way to tell if Canadians are being screwed. For instance, when Apple buys the parts to make the MacBooks and pays the labor, this is generally done in one currency. Probably dollars, but maybe something else. If Apple paid in dollars when dollars were worth more then Canadian currency it would be making less money from Canadians if it charged the same price because the Canadian currency was worth less. Keep in mind many of these parts were probably paid for a long time ago.

Moreover, there are issues such as government taxes, levies, and shipping costs to consider. Finally, companies like Apple hardly ever adjust the pricing based on the short term fluctuation of the currency.

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiopollution

Canadians screwed on price:

US Store: $1099
Canadian Store: $1249

I thought the refresh would have brought about price parity on the MacBook. Guess not.

At today's (noon) nominal exhange rate of 1.0527, it should be $1044. Heh.

(Of course, the nominal rate is always a few points higher than what is offered to the consumer. So, an even price would be fair.)

The base model should have a Single-Layer DVD burner.
The higher models should have Dual-Layer DVD burners.

There is no excuse for not doing so by now.

Cheap $400, bargain-basement PC laptops have combo drives, but once you get past $500/600, they all come with dual-layer DVD burners. I haven't seen a single-layer DVD burner in laptops for a couple years.

My Toshiba was $700, but it came with a dual-layer burner (and yes, I've burned dual-layer discs with it). It makes it handy to make decently large backups.

I know profit margins are nearly everything with Apple, but come on now.

Although, I wished Apple would've announced the Macbooks with the x3100 back in July, I would've bought one then, and not think about getting a Mini to go along with my other PC's now. Even the cheap Mini should have a DVD burner, but I don't case as much, as I'll just put it on my home network.